College of Nursing Alumni Society Awards

The nomination period for the College of Nursing Alumni Society Awards is currently closed.

We invite you to nominate a colleague for one of these awards to be presented at The Ohio State University College of Nursing recognition ceremony during Homecoming weekend in the fall.

• Nomination period is open April 1 to June 1.
• Current members of the Alumni Society Board of Governors are not eligible for these awards. Previous recipients are not eligible for the same award.
• Nominations can be completed online at go.osu.edu/NursingAwardApplication starting April 1.

Supporting documentation should be attached to the nomination form and includes:

• Nominating statement limited to three, single spaced pages.
• Letters of support, limited to three.
• Current curriculum vitae or resume.

Distinguished Alumna/us Award

The Distinguished Alumni Award is given to an Ohio State College of Nursing graduate in recognition of and appreciation for exceptional achievement over their career. The recipient of this award exemplifies the mission and vision of the College of Nursing while providing inspiration for current students, faculty and alumni. Professional areas for consideration include one or more of the following: practice excellence, education, administration, professional writing, evidence-based practice, research or public service.

Current Award Recipient

Eric A. Yap, RN, DBA, MS, MHA, CRRN, FACHE
1995, 1998 MS

Eric Yap is the Chief Executive Officer of OhioHealth Rehabilitation Hospital. Eric has over 22 years of clinical and leadership experience in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Since 2015, Eric has also served as the Chief Clinical Officer to Global Hospital Services, LLC (GHS), based in Washington, D.C., developing its clinical and executive management training programs, medical space planning, financial and operational consulting. Eric embarked on a two-year project through GHS to build a 96-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital and establish the field of rehabilitation nursing in Malaysia by partnering with International Malaysian University and developing their curriculum for rehabilitation nursing.

He began his career in rehabilitation management in 2000 when joining RehabCare as an Operations Consultant tasked with enhancement of existing inpatient programs and start-up of new inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units. In 2003 he was promoted to Executive Director managing inpatient, outpatient, acute therapies and transitional care for a client health care system. By 2010 RehabCare merged with Kindred Healthcare and he was again promoted to Area Director of Operations overseeing 26 sites in Ohio composed of inpatient rehabilitation facilities, outpatient rehabilitation clinics and long-term acute care hospitals.

Prior to joining RehabCare, Eric held multiple clinical and operational leadership roles in an acute care community hospital overseeing multiple hospital departments. Clinically, has experience in neurology, oncology, behavioral health and rehabilitation nursing.

He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Nursing from The Ohio State University and is trained as an Adult Health Primary Care nurse practitioner and certified in Rehabilitation Nursing. Holds a Masters in Health Administration and is board-certified in Health Administration and is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives. In addition, has earned his Doctorate in Business Administration from California Coast University.

Past Award Recipients

1984	Patricia Sloan
1985	Mary Silva
1986	Mary Donohue
1987	Ella Kick
1988	Lois Johns
1989	Marie Collart Constance Collins Elaine Glass Ada Lindsey Mary MacVicar Kathryn Peppe Mary Perley Dorothea Rye Betty Schmoll Ethelrine Shaw-Nickerson
1990	Ellen Rudy
1991	Deborah Coleman Carol Jenkins
2000	Elizabeth Pitorak
2001	Kitty Kisker
2002	Beverly Hampton
2003	Kristine Campbell
2004	Lillian Bernhagen
2005	Suzanne DeWoody
2008	Jeffrey Jones Joan Wessman Clarann Weinert
2009	Kathryn Peppe
2010	Mary Ann Wilcox
2011	Phyllis Kaldor
2012	Danette Birkhimer
2013	Kathleen Lux
2014	100 Alumni Transformers
2015	Adele Webb
2016	Pamela Greene
2017	Cynthia Moore-Hardy
2018	Linda Amos
2019	Eric A. Yap

Distinguished Recent Alumna/us Award

The Distinguished Recent Alumni Award is given to an Ohio State University (OSU) College of Nursing alumnus who has graduated within the past 10 years. This Award is in honor and appreciation of accomplishments that exemplify outstanding early career achievement in at least one of the following areas of Nursing: practice excellence, education, administration, evidence-based practice, research or commendable public service.

Current Award Recipient

Tim Raderstorf, DNP, MSN, RN
2019 DNP

Dr. Tim Raderstorf is the Chief Innovation Officer at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. As the first nurse to hold this academic title in the United States, he takes great pride in educating the nation on the role of the nurse as an innovator and entrepreneur. In 2017, he founded The Innovation Studio, a makerspace/incubator Frankensteined together to provide interprofessional healthcare teams with the tools and mentorship needed to turn ideas into actions. The Innovation Studio has provided over $120,000 in grants to Ohio State teams, and was named a 2018 Top Innovations of the Year from InfectionControlTips and the 2018 Columbus Business First BizTech Outstanding Service Award. As a result of his work at the Innovation Studio, Tim was named the 2018 Early Career Innovator of the Year at The Ohio State University.

In addition to his work as Chief Innovation Officer, Tim is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Practice in the Masters of Healthcare Innovation program at the College of Nursing. He received his Masters of Science in Nursing from Xavier University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Humanstic Medicine from The Ohio State University. Outside of Ohio State, he is the founder of Quality Health Communications, a digital platform that communicates real-time patient quality and safety metrics to the healthcare team and co-author of Evidence-Based Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Nursing and Healthcare: A Practical Guide for Success.

Past Award Recipients

2003	Jon Mickle
2004	Robin Rosselet
2005	Angie Overholt
2006	Theresa Skybo
2008	Andrew Betz
2009	Jodi McDaniel
2010	Jill Kilanowski
2011	Christopher Tod Brindle
2012	Pattama Ulrich
2013	Carrie Keib
2015	Denise Minor
2016	Sarah Meyer
2017	Stephen Roller
2018	Rebecca Taylor
2019	Tim Raderstorf

Community Service Award

The Community Service Award is presented to an Ohio State College of Nursing graduate in honor of the significant contributions of time, actions, talents and dedication made to improve the health of the community (local, regional, national or global). The Awardee promotes the health of the community through sustained professional and/or volunteer work. The recipient serves as a model for compassion and service to others.

Current Award Recipient

Amy M. Provenzano, MS, APRN-CNP, CPNP-PC
2017 MS

Amy Provenzano grew up in the beautiful state of Kentucky. She has always had a passion to empower children and this first led her to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching from Marshall University in 2008. She subsequently augmented and extended this foundation into the healthcare field as she earned a Master of Science degree with a Specialty as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner from The Ohio State University in 2017. Concomitantly to this education, she completed the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Fellowship and was a member of the International honor society Sigma Theta Tau.

After graduating from The Ohio State University, Amy worked for a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) providing primary care services to pediatric patients. During this time, she saw firsthand the very tangible difficulties that families and children face every day. Wanting to meet these needs in a more comprehensive manner, she felt that the Lord was calling her to partner with community resources to provide healthcare in a unique way directly within targeted neighborhoods. Therefore, she partnered with the Connexion West Community Center in Lancaster, Ohio to provide onsite health care to children, nutrition through a food bank, emotional care via numerous support groups, social service programs to aid children within the criminal justice system, education to autistic children, and spiritual care through church involvement and prayer. The doors to her nonprofit clinic Sozo Pediatrics officially opened in August 2019 to all children regardless of ability to pay. At the heart of this endeavor is also a focus on the well-being of the healthcare providers themselves. She aims to foster an environment with relatively low patient to provider daily ratios, longer appointment times to increase quality of care, increased available provider leave, and champion pursuit of emotional health. During her professional journey, she has continuously seen God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Amy is the Chief Executive Officer of Sozo Pediatrics and serves on the Board of Directors for the clinic. She is currently a member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and continues to pursue her passions of serving others, health and wellness promotion, providing patient education, and attending to neurodevelopmental disabilities. She enjoys volunteering her time with local community organizations, and spending time with her wonderful husband Dan and her two amazing son’s Jayden and Kameron.

Past Award Recipients

2003	Margaret Flowers
2004	Jessie Pergrin
2005	Elsie Williams-Wilson
2006	Saundra Theis
2008	Debbie Cannon Freece
2009	Carol Baker
2010	Carol Prince
2011	Kitty Kisker
2015	John Welch
2016	Kristine Weiss Adams
2017	Janet Hussong
2018	Ann Marie Stalter-Justice
2019	Amy M. Provenzano

Mildred E. Newton Distinguished Educator Award

The Mildred E. Newton Distinguished Educator Award honors an Ohio State College of Nursing graduate who has served, or is currently serving, as an educator or dean of a nationally accredited college/school of nursing. The Awardee’s personal integrity, leadership, commitment to nursing education and advancement of nursing science has contributed significantly to the advancement of the nursing profession and the preparation of the next generation of nurses. The following exemplars will be considered: teaching, evidence-based practice, research, publication, leadership in the professional communities at the state, national or global levels, or public service.

Current Award Recipient

Charold Lee Baer, PhD, RN, FCCM, CCRN
1968, 1970 MSN

Charold L. Baer, R.N., Ph.D., FCCM, CCRN is currently retired and a Professor Emerita at the Oregon Health and Sciences University School of Nursing in Portland, Oregon. She met her husband, Rich, during their freshman year at Ohio State and everything subsequent to that has been a true life adventure surrounding a dedicated career in a service profession.

She has been a clinical specialist in critical care and nephrology and has been involved in the care of renal patients for 35 years. For the last 24 years, she has provided care for renal, liver and pancreas transplant patients. She has served as Vice President of the Kidney Association of Oregon and Washington. She was elected to Fellowship in the American College of Critical Care Medicine, May, 1990 and served as Chancellor of the Board of Regents of the American College of Critical Care Medicine, 2004-2005. Only the second nurse to ever hold that position at that time. She was the 2003 recipient of the Norma J. Shoemaker Award for Critical Care Nursing Excellence presented by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and received Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award, February 18, 2007.

She developed a nursing clinical decision-making game called “Now What?” that was published and used by many Schools of Nursing. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters related to the topics of the renal system and fluid and electrolyte balance and four texts on pharmacology and nursing. She developed and implemented the first Acute Nurse Practitioner Program in Oregon in 1997.

She led many continuing educations tours for nurses and physicians to the Soviet Union three times, Switzerland, France, Italy twice, Egypt, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, and Greece twice.

She and her husband, Rich, spend their spare time caring for their 1000 rose bushes. She was a Director of the Portland Rose Festival Foundation, Assistant Director of the Pacific Northwest District of the American Rose Society and a past president and continuing board member of the Portland Rose Society.

Past Award Recipients

2003	Ada Lindsey
2004	Marilyn Sommers
2005	Zaiga Kalnins
2006	Marilyn Rothert
2010	Davina Gosnell
2011	Karen Ahijevych
2012	Edna Menke
2013	Barbara Warren
2015	Jeri Milstead
2016	Susan Frazier
2017	Colleen Keller
2018	Betsy Frank
2019	Charold Lee Baer